Miss Scarlett in the kitchen with...

...the Asparagus

Posted 04.05.16

It’s Asparagus Season!

HIGH POINT OF THE WEEK: Crazy amount of orders for our Salsas – last week order after order came in for all three flavours. To keep up with the demands of East Anglian residents we made, bottled, cooled and delivered hundreds of jars to the East of England Co-Op warehouse in one day.

LOW POINT OF THE WEEK: Colonel Mustard’s trip to A&E resulting in an overnight stay – not a happy bunny but on the mend now!

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK: “Are you casting asparagus on my cooking?”, Curley Howard, American Comedian

OBSERVATIONS OF THE WEEK
It’s Asparagus season!! Yippee! Ok I know that you can get almost every vegetable all the year round but if, like me, you prefer the airmile free and British version then the only time to eat asparagus is between April and June. Asparagus is ‘climate dependent’ and only grows once the soil temperature has reached 10 degrees. It is also not the simplest of plants and I do know someone who, when rather new to growing vegetables, planted all her asparagus plants upside down and couldn’t work out why her crop failed! But she shall remain nameless!!

East Suffolk is famous for its asparagus. One of our stockists, Friday Street Farm is particularly well known for its wonderful tasting asparagus grown on the Heritage Coast.

Did you know that asparagus can be used to predict the future?

I don’t know whether to really admit to this but I thought it might make you smile! Earlier in the year, I read that there is a lady from Bath called Jemima Packington who is a self declared ‘asparamancer’ (and has also been referred to as Mystic Veg). Apparently she throws asparagus up into the air and the way they land helps her predict the future. I only hope the floor is clean and the asparagus is used to make something delicious afterwards!

Anyway, enjoy the start of Asparagus season and here are a couple of my recipes to help you make the most of this fab vegetable!

Trim some local fresh asparagus & simmer for 5 minutes or so until al dente. Drain & plunge into cold water, drain & pat dry. Wrap some streaky bacon around 3 spears, grate with a little parmesan, then roast in a hot oven for approximately 7-10 minutes, until the bacon is crispy. Drizzle over some Granny’s Original Tarragon Dressing & serve. Yum yum!

In a heavy pan soften a few chopped spring onions and a chopped garlic clove in the butter. Add the diced chicken fillets and cook for 3 mins until sealed.
Add 100ml chicken stock followed by a couple of bundles of trimmed asparagus and cook for 2mins.Finally add frozen peas and cook for a further 2mins. To finish pour over the Granny’s Original Tarragon Dressing and sprinkle with chopped fresh tarragon. Serve with buttered new potatoes or some brown rice.